Find below the unabridged letter from DEP-Green Acres Compliance officer, Nancy Lawrence, summarizing her discussions with the then Township engineer, its then and current Manager and its then and current Township Attorney

Email sent 11/23/10 3:50 PM
To: cmckearnin@teanecknj.gov; wbroughton@teanecknj.gov; William.Rupp@FTHGLAW.com
Cc: Rodriguez, Robert; Sumoski, Amy
Subject: Re: Teaneck ROSI

Gentleman.
It was a pleasure meeting with you two weeks ago. I thought it was very good use of our time as we were able to accomplish quite a bit with reference to reconciling the Township’s ROSI.

As we had mentioned at the end of our meeting, Robert Rodriguez and I went out to look at the vacant Township property, adjacent to the FDU property (Block 1401 / Lot 2), that contained an outfall as well as a trail to the previously mentioned FDU property. There was some question as to whether this property should be on the Township’s ROSI.
After visiting the site, it appears the Township is allowing for the use of this property for recreation as there are two separate and permanent signs on the property indicating that the trail is the “Ravine Entrance” to the “Hackensack River Greenway through Teaneck” trail. Because the signs were allowed to be erected, and the Township is allowing the use of this property to gain entrance to the Greenway trail, per NJAC 7:36-25.3(f) this property belongs on the Township’s ROSI. Please list the property with a note identifying that there is a pre-existing outfall on this property. If, in the future, repairs need to be done to the stormwater line, such work will be grandfathered in and will not require approval from the State House Commission.

After reviewing the map of the Greenway trail included in the “Friends of the Greenway” brochure available at this site, we decided it would be a good use of our time to visit other areas where the Greenway trail appeared to cross Township property. Therefore, our next visit was to the Township Compost Facility (Block 201 / Lot 11), entering the trail from both the “Pomander Walk” and “Riverside Drive” entrances (as indicated on the trail map). While we only found one official sign (posted at the unlocked gate on Cedar Lane – Riverside Drive entrance), we did find that an established trail ran between the facility fencing and the Hackensack River. As with the property above, it seems the Township is allowing for the use of this property for recreation purposes. However, in the case of the Compost Facility, only a very small portion of this property is being used for recreation with the vast majority being used for composting activities. Therefore, this should be listed on the Township’s ROSI as: Block 201 Lot 11 Hackensack River Greenway Trail 5′ wide trail easement adjacent to the high water line of the Hackensack River. Please note that the listing of this 5′ wide trail should not impact any activities currently being conducted at the Compost Facility. Nor should it impact any planned, or future, activities due to the fact that the trail appears to run through the floodplain of the river (undevelopable) and due to the extreme difference in elevation between the composting operations and the river / trail. I have attached photos taken at both the Ravine Entrance and Compost Facility sites.

Due to time constraints, we were unable to look at the Township’s DPW site. However, if the Greenway trail exists on this property as it does at the Compost Facility, please list the DPW property on the ROSI as well, in similar fashion to the Compost Facility [ie: Block / Lot Hackensack River Greenway Trail 5′ wide trail easement adjacent to the high water line of the Hackensack River]. And as with the Compost Facility, the listing of the 5′ wide trail should not impact any current or future use of the site due to the location of the trail in reference to the river.

I would be remiss if I did not mention my concern regarding the Greenway trail. Whether the Township owns the trail via a trail easement across all the various public and private properties involved, or if it is the non-profit Friends of the Hackensack River Greenway through Teaneck group that holds the trail easement, I am surprised the Township was unaware of this recreational use on portions of Township lands. I recall during our visit we had discussed easements and it was mentioned the Township does not hold any conservation easements. However, this trail easement falls under the same definition of “held” as defined in Green Acres rules. Therefore, I ask that the Township further research the Hackensack River Greenway through Teaneck and determine if the Township gave an easement to the Friends group or if the Township holds the easement. Depending on the outcome of your research, please list the Greenway trail as either a 5′ long portion of the Township owned lands (as mentioned above) -or- list the trail in it’s entirety on the ROSI with an assumed with of 5′ through the various block and lots involved. Again, this will not encumber the entire property, but only that section of the property upon which the trail currently resides. Also, related to this, the NJ Audubon website lists this trail and lists the owner as the Township. If you determine that the Township is only granting a trail easement to the Friends group on Township lands, you may want to get this information corrected.

However, if the signs were placed at any of these sites without Township knowledge and/or approval and if the Friends of the Hackensack Greenway are trespassing on Township property via access points to the Hackensack River Greenway through Teaneck trail, please have the group remove their sign(s) and abandon the trail(s) so as not to confuse the public as to the Township’s intentions for this property.

The last unresolved items, I believe, are whether Block 1102 / Lot 10 and Block 1101 / Lot 1 belong on the ROSI. Bill was going to research the deeds to determine whether anything was in the deeds, or the enabling resolution, that linked them to Continental Park. After looking at Block 1101 / Lot 1, it is probable that there will be nothing in the deed showing this property is an extension of Continental Park. However, our field visit to Block 1102 / Lot 10, the vacant property next to Continental Park (Block 1102 / Lot 11), still leaves questions.

With the agreed upon addition of Block 107 / Lot 5 & Block 5103 / Lot 7 at our meeting, as well as the addition of Block 1401 / Lot 2 and the 5′ wide trail easement across the Compost Facility (and DPW facility, if warranted), the Townships ROSI should be complete. Besides the ROSI, we will eventually need documentation to support the fact that while the greenways along Route 4 are there to provide aesthetics and buffer the surrounding community from the traffic of this roadway and the development of roadside commerce, the 1956 (not entirely sure of this date) Master Plan noted that the Township must permanently protect this road as a high speed thoroughfare – assuming the Master Plan and the Township’s position has not since changed.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me directly. Have a safe and restful Thanksgiving.

Regards,

Nancy Lawrence
Compliance Officer
DEP Green Acres Program
Bureau of Legal Services and Stewardship
(p) 609-341-2054
(f) 609-984-0608
(e) nancy.lawrence@dep.state.nj.us